A number of systems are in use today that employ unpowered parachutes to carry individuals to the ground safely from failing aircraft. Powered parachutes or paragliders may be used as air vehicle platforms, such as with a typical powered paraglider.
Also in the prior art are powered parachutes where a person is strapped vertically into a harness attached to the parachute, with an engine having a propeller mounted to the person's back. One example of such prior art is a recreational apparatus disclosed in European patent no. EP2607236 A2, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PARAGLIDERS, which posits a propulsion system attached the user's waist, with two propulsion devices attached to a harness on the right and left side of the user. This design may be adequate for some recreational applications, but for a military design, the harness and propulsion locations would interfere with additional equipment typically required to be carried by military users. In addition, lower body manipulation required for control of this apparatus could be a serious issue with military parachutists that carry a large amount of external equipment. Another issue with the prior art apparatus is thrust pitch control; with the hands being in the up positon and holding onto risers for bank/directional control, motor pitch must be manipulated by changing one's body position. Again, this can be difficult to perform by military personnel carrying equipment, as well as being tiring over time.
The present invention overcomes such inadequacies by placing all vehicle control above the user and allowing all directional and propulsion controls to be manipulated by the user's arms and hands.
Similar to Applicant's U.S. application Ser. No. 13/410,225, this embodiment incorporates many similar benefits, such as maintaining a vertical center of gravity and allowing for increased stability by the placement of the propulsion system above or in the vicinity of the control arm. The ability to angle the propulsion system has multiple benefits; one benefit is ability to overcome some of the speed restrictions of a typical paraglider, such as with Flynn's U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,642 A patent, which is the typical configuration of a paraglider that does not have the ability to pitch its propulsion system. Being able to pitch the propulsion system is very useful in controlling altitude, and overcomes some of the drag of the parachute. This ability to pitch the motor is also beneficial in hazardous wind conditions and can prevent turbulence and parachute collapse by assisting in maintaining a positive-G force on the chute by changing pitch angle and speed, in addition to advantageously changing a center of pressure in the parachute. The ability to pitch the motor, as well as reverse the propeller direction (for electric motors) can assist in slowing the aircraft to a much slower and safer speed during landings. The present invention incorporates airframe navigation lights 360 on the outer ends of the left and right outer control arms (245 and 246) as well as at the top of the propulsion system 220 battery and electronics assembly 222 for flight safety reasons. Other embodiments may contain infrared illumination capabilities, depending on the user's needs.